After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Jeff Nichols‘ Take Shelter had its first screening at Cannes Film Festival day. The apocalyptic family drama features a re-team with his Shotgun Stories star Michael Shannon, as well as The Tree of Life star Jessica Chastain. One can read my very positive Sundance review here, but now we have news on his next project.
24 Frames reports that the breakout lead of Star Trek, Chris Pine, has entered to talks to star in Jeff Nichols‘ Mud. The coming-of-age story will be produced by Aaron Ryder (The Prestige, Memento) and is being compared to Stand By Me, “a drama about figuring out one’s place in the world.” Check out an expanded synopsis below.
Nichols’ new movie will center on two 14-year-boys who come across an adult fugitive of the law, the titular Mud (who would be played by Pine) and must help him escape off an island in the Mississippi. The ambiguity of the story lies with Mud, who is both an unsavory and a redemptive character and who teaches the boys as much as he learns from them. The riverside setting and coming-of-age motif will inevitably draw comparisons to Huckleberry Finn, though the film will be set in the contemporary world.
Although Pine is firmly in the blockbuster spotlight now with Unstoppable and the upcoming Star Trek 2, Jack Ryan’s new film Moscow, and McG‘s This Means War, it is nice to see him consider an arthouse flick like this one. Nichols is one of the most promising up-and-coming directors and I simply can’t wait to see this project. In the meantime, Take Shelter will hit theaters later this year via Sony Pictures Classics.
